


Let's Play a Game of Concentration

by AppalachianApologies



Series: Appalachian's 2020 Whumptober [27]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: An unsub that doesn't even say a single word, Hurt Luke Alvez, Hurt Spencer Reid, I actually whumped someone else today, Luke Alvez Whump, Snow, Spencer Reid Whump, Whump, Whumptober 2020, quote en quote extreme weather, that being said Spencer is also being whumped lmao, you all get a two for the price of one today sdlkjfsdjkl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:33:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27228166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AppalachianApologies/pseuds/AppalachianApologies
Summary: Why unsubs chose to live in such disastrous weather, Spencer will never know.Day 27: "Extreme" Weather
Series: Appalachian's 2020 Whumptober [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948174
Comments: 41
Kudos: 130
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Let's Play a Game of Concentration

**Author's Note:**

> Before I begin, I'd just like to say that the weather was supposed to be a lot more extreme than this lmao. Anyway- Hi! Hello! I hope everyone's doing okay this final week of October, and today I'm bringing you some Spencer and Luke bc they're both lowkey disasters haha. Also I've found I'm physically incapable of writing Spencer and Luke without becoming very gay. So. Enjoy the gay as well :D
> 
> Enjoy! :D

The cold is not something that Spencer has ever enjoyed.

He figures it’s probably stemmed from the fact that he grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, before moving to sunny California, and until he was seventeen the coldest weather he had been in was “slightly cloudy.” Even the Alaska case a few years back wasn’t this cold.

Spencer internally grumbles as he and Luke tread lightly through the snowy mountains of rural Virginia, weapons in hand. Luke takes point, leading the way through half faded footsteps that are supposedly from the unsub. Spencer isn’t sure why people choose to live in a climate like this, especially in the winter.

However before he can muse on that thought, a snapping branch pulls him out of his mind. “Luke,” Spencer quietly hisses, jerking his head to the side to show where the sound came from.

After a nod, Luke brings his gun up and takes quiet steps through the snow, wincing every time his boots crunch through the five inches of white. Spencer follows suit, trying to place his own feet where Luke’s were in an effort to reduce sound.

As it turns out, that doesn’t matter once the unsub starts shooting at them.

The shotgun’s bullets explode against the trees, causing bark to fly everywhere, making popping noises that Spencer’s sure could be heard for miles. Spencer and Luke put their backs to thicker tree trunks, periodically looking over their shoulders to shoot at the unsub.

A few seconds later, Luke jerks behind the trunk with a groan.

“Luke?” Spencer questions, still keeping his eyes on the unsub’s figure.

Swallowing, Luke replies, “I’m fine, I’m fine,” But the pain in his voice gives him away.

“He’s running!” Spencer announces, firing off a couple more shots.

“Go, go! I’m right behind you!” The other man announces, and Spencer doesn’t think twice before running through the snow.

All of the rocks and fallen branches are camouflaged from the snow, and Spencer doesn’t exactly have time to check where he’s stepping. Spencer pushes that thought to the back of his mind and keeps weaving between trees, determined to get to the unsub before he escapes them once again.

“On your right!” Luke shouts, firing a few rounds.

Pointing to a boulder, Spencer announces, “Go around the back, we can get him on both sides,”

They both quiet their foot falls, forcing their breath to slow down. With one last glance to each other, they go around the sides of the trees and boulder, eyes sharp.

Out of the corner of his vision, Spencer’s able to see the unsub a fraction of a second before he nearly gets blitzed. The barrel of the shotgun narrowly misses Spencer’s temple, but it does manage to knock his gun out of his hand.

Spencer goes for the unsub’s midsection, pushing him away until he stumbles back on the ground. Unfortunately, when he falls back, he grasps Spencer’s jacket in his fist, taking Spencer with him.

In an attempt to break free before he hits the ground, Spencer tries to jerk to the side, but instantly regrets his decision when pain instantly blossoms across his left knee. 

Shouting out in pain, Spencer pushes himself to the side, once again barely avoiding another hit from the shotgun. He figures that the unsub must’ve run out of shells, or he’d be dead by now.

“Reid, down!” Luke shouts, and Spencer instantly complies, tucking his head and body as far into the snow as they go. A second later warm blood splatters across the white snow and the side of Spencer’s back.

For a few tense moments Luke and Spencer stay completely still, save for their heaving chests. The unsub’s chest falls, but it doesn’t rise back up.

Spencer flips himself on his back, groaning at the cold biting at his cheeks. He’s instantly spurred into action when he sees red dots on the side of Luke’s jacket. “Luke! You’re bleeding,” Spencer calls out, causing Luke to frown.

Holstering his gun, Luke reports, “Oh shit, I didn’t realize it hit me,”

Spencer sends him a worried glance and pushes himself onto his knees. Or least he should’ve. Instead, he falls down to the side, a pained groan escaping his throat.

“Reid? Spencer?” Luke calls out, falling to his side, hands worriedly pointed out, but not quite touching him. “What’s wrong, where are you hurt?”

“You’re hurt,” Spencer counters. “You got shot!”

“It’s just a nick-”

“You’re bleeding through your shirt and jacket!”

“Yeah, shotguns tend to do that,” Luke mumbles, pressing a hand to his own wound. “Spencer, look at me. What hurts?”

Shaking his head, Spencer replies, “I’m fine, just bruised up my knee a bit. We need to put pressure on your wound,”

“I am,” Luke points out, glancing at his right hand which is currently getting decorated with his own blood. 

With a frown, Spencer insists, “Sit down, let me see it,”

“Only if you let me see your knee.”

“My knee is fine,” Spencer hisses. “You just got shot!”

“I was nicked!”

“Just sit down!”

Luke gives him a look, but finally complies, settling down on the edge of the short end of the boulder, before taking a quick breath and pulling up his jacket and shirt. He thinks that it’s probably not the best that the cold is bothering him more than the bullet wound.

Chewing the inside of his cheek, Spencer questions, “Are there still pieces in there?”

Luke sucks in a breath. “Probably,”

“That means you have a higher chance for infection if we don’t get it out,”

“Yeah,” Luke agrees, “But if we don’t have any tools then I’ll have a higher chance for infection anyway.”

Frowning, Spencer asks, “Don’t you have a few things in your backpack?”

“First aid kit, yeah. But we gotta get somewhere safe before I’m letting you pull pieces of metal out of my side.”

“The unsub’s cabin?” Spencer raises his eyes. “It’s not too far from here.”

Nodding, Luke agrees, “It’s only about a half mile. Check your radio- is it working?”

With the shake of his head, Spencer replies, “No, water clogged. Yours?”

“Dropped it somewhere,” Luke reports, looking rather angry. Looking up at the sky and the snowflakes beginning to fall. Reaching over to hand Spencer’s gun back to him, Luke adds, “Alright, c’mon. We gotta get to the cabin before the weather gets worse. Can you stand?”

Making a face, Spencer replies, “Yes, I can stand,” Before falling back into the snow.

Scoffing, Luke mutters, “Yeah, sure looks like it. C’mon, lean on my shoulder,” He muses, stumbling over to Spencer, trying to grab his arm.

“You’re hurt,” Spencer points out, “I’m not gonna use you as a crutch.”

Wincing, Luke acknowledges, “You got any better ideas? ‘Cause right now that seems to be the only thing we got.”

Spencer bites his frozen lip, and furrows his eyebrows, attempting to use his IQ to find a safer way to walk. “I’m sure I can manage by myself,”

Luke gives him a look that Spencer chooses to ignore. “Yeah, genius? Stand up by yourself and maybe I’ll consider it.”

Gritting his teeth, Spencer uses his hands to push himself off the ground, before balancing on his right leg to an almost standing position. “See? I’m fine.”

“Congratulations, Spencer,” Luke drawls, “You’ve convinced absolutely no one. Now lean on my shoulder or so help me God-”

“You’re hurt,” Spencer tries again, but they both know it’s weak.

Throwing up his hands and wincing, Luke counters, “And you are too! The faster we get to the cabin the faster we can patch ourselves up, okay? So just do me a favor and put your weight on me.”

Spencer’s silent for a tense few seconds, before finally conceding, “Fine. You’ll tell me if it hurts though?”

“Yep. As soon as you do.” Luke confirms with an overly cheery grin. “Just try not to put much weight on your leg, got it?”

Spencer replies with a groan. “Got it.”

After only twenty steps, both of the men are already shaking, and Spencer can see more blood dribbling down from Luke’s side. Ignoring the throbbing of his own knee, Spencer mutters, “Keep putting pressure on your side, Luke,”

“I know, I know,” He replies, bringing his right hand back up. “How’re you doing there, Spencer?”

“Just fine,” The genius groans.

At the halfway mark, both of them are panting from pain, and Luke has to force himself to keep his eyes open, even though they so badly want to clench down in pain. Luke forces himself to move for Spencer’s sake, not knowing that Spencer’s doing the same, vice versa.

The snow continues to pick up, and if that wasn’t bad enough, so does the wind. It picks up and swirls around the light snowflakes, obscuring parts of their vision, and Luke has never been so glad to have done boy scouts as he is right now. 

Cold air bites and pulls at the bits of skin that’s not covered, and Spencer begins shivering. By the time Luke’s body begins shaking, Spencer’s nearly blue in the face. Both of their bodies are conserving the heat in their midsections, and both of them can feel their toes begin to lose feeling.

By the time the damned cabin comes into view, Luke and Spencer are both minutes away from passing out. As it stands right now, they collapse as soon as the door is shut.

Clenching his teeth, Spencer groans and moves his hands down to his knee, too scared to actually feel it. One glance to the side tells him that Luke isn’t doing much better either. “Let me see the backpack,” Spencer insists, holding an inviting hand out.

Through a wince, Luke shifts it off his shoulder and slides it the short few feet across the floor to Spencer, who immediately tears it open to grab the first aid kit. Spencer digs out tweezers, gauze, and alcohol, and Luke sends a quick prayer up, before lifting his shirt.

Tapping out a few tylenol, Spencer holds his palm and offers, “Here. It’s not gonna help for at least half an hour, but you may as well take them now.”

Snatching the two pills, Luke points out, “Same for you.”

After both of them dry swallow the medication, Spencer uses his hands to push himself across the wooden floor until he’s next to Luke. “You ready?”

“Absolutely not,” Luke replies, but still lays down. “Maybe after this you can finally be a medical doctor, huh?”

“Haven’t passed the Boards,” Spencer murmurs in a response, paying more attention to the ugly mess of Luke’s side. “Can you feel where the shards are?”

Looking to the side, Luke replies, “Nah, just stings all over.”

Spencer bites his lip. “That’s okay. I think I can see two bits. They’re not too far from the surface,” He announces, clicking on a flashlight for extra light. With tweezers in one hand, Spencer announces, “This’ll hurt.”

True to Spencer’s word, it hurt.

Luke grits his teeth during the entire process, and it feels like how he imagines a fire would feel in his stomach. It gets to the point where Luke can’t even tell when Spencer’s reaching in with tweezers, because all he feels is  _ pain. _ Finally, after what feels like an eternity, Spencer presses something nice and cool to his side.

“I can’t stitch you up,” Spencer reports, looking fairly guilty, “It’ll be too dangerous. I’ll just,” Spencer awkwardly waves to the first aid box, “...pressure bandages.”

“‘S all good,” Luke forces out, finally unclenching his jaw. “We’ll go to a hospi’al once we get out,”

Still looking rather guilty, Spencer agrees, “Yeah,” Before placing a plethora of gauze over the wound. Luke wants to mention that he doesn’t need that many bandages, but Spencer looks a bit like he’s about to break down, so he doesn’t take a chance saying anything.

After he’s finished, Spencer leans back on the wall, injured leg splayed out in front of him. After half heartedly attempting to get Luke’s blood off of his hands and fingers, Spencer looks at the far edge of the room. “Are you cold? I think there’s blankets here somewhere,”

Not bothering to sit up, Luke answers, “‘M fine, Spencer. How’s your leg?”

A little too quickly, Spencer answers, “It’s fine.”

“Lemme see it,” Luke requests, propping himself up on his elbows. “Shit, that looks swollen-”

“It’s fine.”

“Spencer,” 

Shaking his head, he announces, “I need to go find a radio and figure out how to contact Emily,”

Frowning, Luke points out, “You’re not going anywhere on that leg.”

“You’re not either. I don’t have a choice.”

“So you’re just going to drag yourself across the floor?” Luke questions with an incredulous look on his face.

“If I have to, yeah.”

“You can’t be serious.”

Throwing up his hands, Spencer questions, “What else am I supposed to do?”

“Let me at least wrap your knee, maybe stabilize it? It’ll feel better.”

Still determined, Spencer replies, “I told you, it’s just bruised, I’ll be fine.”

“I can tell it’s swollen even through your pants, Spencer. Whatever’s wrong with it isn’t just a bruise.”

“I can still be useful!” Spencer barks out, feeling guilty as soon as the words leave his mouth.

Taken aback, Luke quickly adds, “I never said you weren’t useful. I just want to help you so you’re not in so much pain,” Before Spencer can continue to disagree, Luke waves his hand forward. “C’mon. Hand me the kit, and I can take a look at your leg.”

“But you’re hurt,”

“Yeah, thanks, I didn’t notice,” Luke sarcastically bites. “Spencer. Let me see your knee.”

Spencer shakes his head, but still mutters, “Fine.”

“Here, go roll up your pant leg.”

Biting his lip, Spencer quietly admits, “I can’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, it’s too swollen for me to roll up my pants.”

Luke drags a hand over his head. “Oh, fuck. Okay. Change of plans, there are scissors in my backpack. Grab that, and cut the side of your pants, at the seam.”

After being freed of his clothing, Spencer’s knee feels simultaneously better and worse. A few moments later, the throbbing starts up again, and Spencer presses his nails into his palms.

Luke whistles, “Shit, this isn’t good,” Before gently palpating the joint. “Hey, did you hurt this knee before?” He questions with a frown.

“Yeah, why?” Spencer breathlessly asks.

“‘Cause of the scars,” Pulling out the ace bandages, Luke tries to keep Spencer talking, “What happened? You know, the first time?”

“Bullet,” Spencer groans. “It nearly shattered my patella. Took me months to be able to walk again.”

Sympathetically wincing, Luke muses, “That doesn’t sound fun. Hopefully this isn’t too bad,”

“Yeah, hopefully.” Spencer halfheartedly notes. 

By the time Luke and Spencer have tended to their wounds, they’re both exhausted from the pain and the cold. Luke drops back down from his elbows, and despite his best efforts, lets his eyelids slip shut.

Spencer quickly shakes his shoulder, “Luke, c’mon, you can’t sleep.”

“‘S fine,” He mutters. “I’m not gonna die from this amount of blood loss. ‘S barely anything.”

Rolling his eyes in an attempt to keep his emotions in check, Spencer replies, “Sounds like what someone would say right before dying of blood loss.”

“I’m not gonna die. I’m just gonna,” He trails off, thinking of the best thing to say to soothe Spencer, “Rest.”

“That’s code for ‘dying.’”

“I’m not dying.”

Giving him a look, Spencer announces, “I’m going to go find a radio,” Before staying perfectly still.

Popping an eye open, Luke mutters, “You’re doing a really good job of that, Spencer.”

“Shut up,” He weakly counters. “Aren’t you supposed to be resting?”

“Oh  _ now  _ you want me to rest?” Luke questions with a pained smile.

Rather than reply, Spencer drops his head and acknowledges, “Fuck, my knee hurts,”

“Wha’s with all the swearing now?”

“‘S ‘cause my knee hurts,” Spencer replies.

Closing his eye once again, Luke notes, “Mm. ‘M gonna sleep now,”

“Wait, no- Luke!” Spencer tries, awkwardly shifting on his back to shake Luke. “Don’t sleep, I told you, don’t rest,” When there’s no reply, he calls out, “Luke!”

And then, much to his surprise, the door bangs open, cold wind and snow rushing in.

“Federal agent!” Spencer shouts, reaching to his side to grab his gun. “Don’t move! I’m a federal agent!”

“Whoa, Reid, calm down, it’s just me.”

Frowning, Spencer’s brain finally catches up with his eyes. “Tara?”

Nodding and holstering her own gun, she confirms, “Yeah, it’s just me,” Before turning over her shoulder, “Guys! They’re in here. We’re going to need medical attention.”

“Luke was shot,” Spencer confirms. “He just passed out, go help him,”

Tara falls to her knees, inspecting Luke’s side, trying to figure out how much blood is just spread around his stomach, and how much is actually actively bleeding from the wound.

JJ comes in next, crouching by Spencer’s side. “What happened? Why are you both on the floor?”

“‘S a nice floor.”

“Spence.”

“Hurt my knee again,” He mutters.

Nodding, JJ reports, “Once we get to the road, we’re going to get both of you in an ambulance, got it?”

“Got it.” He echos.

Turning to the other agents which have now flooded the room, JJ announces, “Alright guys, let’s move before the snow gets worse,” Facing back to Spencer, she asks with a grin, “You ready to be carried?”

“Uh- wait, what?”

Smirking, JJ points out, “Well, you’re not going to be able to walk by yourself. C’mon, I’ll help you up and then Simmon’s going to carry you,”

“You can’t be serious-”

“Deadly,” Comes JJ’s response. “If it makes you feel any better, Luke’s also going to carried out,”

Glancing at the form on the floor, Spencer mutters, “That does make me feel a bit better,” Glaring at her, he adds, “Don’t take pictures though,”

With a faux frown, JJ questions, “Oh, but how will I show Garcia then?”

“Don’t you dare-” Spencer starts, cutting himself off when he’s lifted off the ground. “Don’t you dare, JJ!”

Already pulling out her phone, she replies, “Oh, I wouldn’t,” With a huge grin on her face. “I wouldn’t dare.”

**Author's Note:**

> Once upon a time I was going to have Spencer infodump about hypothermia and blood vessels and all of that and then I didn't. :) I'm stressed :)
> 
> Thank you all for all of your support over on my tumblr! As always you can talk with me on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/appalachianapologies) (AppalachianApologies) if you'd like! I'm always so down to meet new people :D
> 
> I love you all very much, and I hope you all are doing okay. If you find yourself in a bad or scary situation, here are some hotlines (Please keep in mind that the written out numbers are US hotlines)
> 
> National Suicide Hotline: 1-800-273-8255  
> National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673  
> National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
> 
> If you don't live in America and need someone to talk to, here's a list of [international hotlines.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines)  
> You are not alone, and I love you all <3
> 
> Much love to all of you, and take care until tomorrow!! <3


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